The National Corvette Museum’s plans for a motorsports park remain on track for a proposed 2014 opening after the Warren County Fiscal Court on March 21 unanimously approved the first reading of a rezoning ordinance.

The museum must have the 405 acres of land changed from agriculture to planned unit development zoning for the facility to be built.

That hurdle could be cleared soon if the Fiscal Court approves the second reading of the rezoning of the property, located at Porter Pike and Grimes and McGinnis roads, at an upcoming meeting, the Bowling Green Daily News reports.

Earlier this year, in the first stage of the rezoning process, the City-County Planning Commission already approved the rezoning by an 8-3 vote, but at that meeting, several residents of the area turned out to express concern about the motorsports park because they fear it will increase noise and traffic in their neighborhoods.

Museum Executive Director Wendell Strode tried to allay those concerns by saying the museum will bring in an acoustical engineer to determine what steps need to be taken to prevent increased noise and has already completed a traffic study.

“We want to be a good neighbor,” he said.

At least one Warren County official seems to be a supporter of the park, noting that the museum draws about 150,000 visitors a year into the county, with many staying more than one day.

The first phase of the park will be built on 184 acres at a cost of $20 million and will feature a 2.94-mile road course, an autocross area, and a skid pad training area.

Depending on the success of the first phase, the museum may pursue a second phase on another neighboring 200-plus acres, Strode said.

The motorsports park would serve as a location for the museum’s two driving instructors to teach high-performance driving education classes, which are taught in locations such as Virginia International Raceway and Putnam Park Road Course in Indiana, he said.

If you’d like to make a donation to the National Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park, visit www.motorsportspark.org.

Mitch Talley has loved Corvettes since he was just 8 years old. He's owned 10 Corvettes since 1983, including examples from the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth generations. His goal is to own first, second, and seventh generation cars someday. He and his son, Chris, also a Corvette enthusiast, served as Captains of the 2014 Georgia Corvette Caravan.